Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and is accompanied by neuron loss and structure change. With the increase of AD patients worldwide, the pathology and treatment of the disease has become a focus in the International Pharmaceutical Industry. Thus, the establishment of the animal model to mimic AD in the laboratory is of great importance. Here, we describe a detailed protocol for establishing a mimic of AD in a rat animal model though intracerebroventricular injection of amyloid beta protein 25-35 (Aβ25-35) combined with aluminum trichloride (AlCl3) and anterodorsal thalamic nucleus injection of recombinant human transforming growth factor-β1 (RHTGF-β1) to rats. The related markers of AD were measured, including: spatial memory, neuronal structure and substructure, neuronal Aβ, and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) production. This rat model demonstrates spatial memory impairment, neuronal structure and substructure pathological changes, neuron intracellular Aβ burden, and NFT aggregation, and provides a close mimic of the neuronal structure and function disorder to that of clinical AD patients. Thus, the presented AD rat modelprovides a valuable in vivo tool for exploring neuronal function, neuronal pathology, and drug screening of AD.